The Partnership for Strong Communities (PSC) is a recognized leader and advocate for the elimination of homelessness, the creation of affordable homes, and the development of strong communities in Connecticut. None of these complex social problems can be solved by a single organization, and the Partnership has taken a leadership role in a process of collective impact to create and implement solutions by convening a broad coalition of partners across a spectrum of systems and service sectors. PSC serves as a backbone organization, which is one of five key conditions required for the success of collective impact initiatives. As a backbone organization, PSC provides ongoing coordination to ensure campaigns move forward to achieve their goals, by working to:

Guide vision and strategy

Support aligned activities

Establish shared measurement practices

Build public will

Advance policy

Mobilize funding

Specifically, PSC convene experts, advocates, practitioners, and leaders in business, community and government to guide a statewide process of strategy development and consensus building. We determine the best steps and mobilize key partners to execute the actions necessary to meet our shared goals. PSC produces policy briefs, gathers information and aggregates research and reports to inform state policymakers, municipal officials, and broader community stakeholders.. Our executives and policy staff speak at conferences across the state, region and nation. We produce an annual series of forums hosted at the Lyceum that explore the connections between housing policy and various disciplines, including education, environmental quality, transportation, health care, food security, community development and more.

In January, 40 Connecticut providers and 9 state and federal partners joined Governor Malloy in signing on to Zero: 2016. Of the 71 communities in Zero: 2016, Connecticut is one of only 4 statesparticipating!

What Are The Goals of Zero: 2016?

1) End Veteran homelessness in Connecticut by the end of 20152) End chronic homelessness in Connecticut by the end of 2016 (individuals experiencing chronic homelessness are those who have been homeless for a long time and have a disability)

A Great Opportunity Ending DateDec 31 2016

At A Glance

Year of Incorporation2005

Organization's type of tax exempt statusPublic Supported Charity

Organization received a competitive grant from the community foundation in the past five yearsNo

The Partnership for Strong Communities (PSC) is a recognized leader and advocate for the elimination of homelessness, the creation of affordable homes, and the development of strong communities in Connecticut. None of these complex social problems can be solved by a single organization, and the Partnership has taken a leadership role in a process of collective impact to create and implement solutions by convening a broad coalition of partners across a spectrum of systems and service sectors. PSC serves as a backbone organization, which is one of five key conditions required for the success of collective impact initiatives. As a backbone organization, PSC provides ongoing coordination to ensure campaigns move forward to achieve their goals, by working to:

Guide vision and strategy

Support aligned activities

Establish shared measurement practices

Build public will

Advance policy

Mobilize funding

Specifically, PSC convene experts, advocates, practitioners, and leaders in business, community and government to guide a statewide process of strategy development and consensus building. We determine the best steps and mobilize key partners to execute the actions necessary to meet our shared goals. PSC produces policy briefs, gathers information and aggregates research and reports to inform state policymakers, municipal officials, and broader community stakeholders.. Our executives and policy staff speak at conferences across the state, region and nation. We produce an annual series of forums hosted at the Lyceum that explore the connections between housing policy and various disciplines, including education, environmental quality, transportation, health care, food security, community development and more.

Background

When it was created in 1998 by the Melville Charitable Trust, The Partnership for Strong Communities focused on strategies to prevent and end homelessness. Since its incorporation as a separate 501 (c)(3) in 2004, The Partnership’s mission has expanded to foster additional affordable housing throughout the State and support the development of strong and vibrant communities. The Partnership’s first Executive Director, Diane Randall, helped define the Partnership as a go-to institution for information on homelessness and affordable housing. In 2011, Howard Rifkin became Executive Director, and when he left in February 2014 to work for the Connecticut Lieutenant Governor's office, our Deputy Executive Director, Alicia Woodsby, took the helm. She has been instrumental in expanding the depth and breadth of our work.

The Partnership has three campaigns: Reaching Home, HOMEConnecticut, and the Ideas Forum Series.

In 2004, the Partnership was part of the statewide Steering Committee that launched the Reaching Home Campaign to address chronic homelessness. From 2004 through 2011, the Campaign focused on educating policymakers and the public about permanent supportive housing. In 2012, the Opening Doors – CT framework was agreed upon as a way to work across sectors and fully integrate our work to end homelessness, with goals of ending homelessness among veterans and those experiencing chronic homelessness by 2016 and among youth, families and children by 2022. While supportive housing is still a core function of the campaign, we understand that re-tooling the crisis intervention system, considering other housing options, and integrating housing with health care and economic security are key elements to the systemic changes that can effectively end homelessness.

HOMEConnecticut is a statewide campaign staffed by the Partnership and aimed at increasing the state’s stock of affordable housing. One initiative encourages towns to create Incentive Housing Zones where developers can increase housing density in exchange for creating mixed-income housing in town centers and along mass transit corridors.

The Ideas Forum Series is a set of public conversations that offer Ideas, Inspiration and Innovation about how the public and private sector can work together towards a mutual goal of solving key policy problems and enhancing Connecticut as a place where people want to live, work and raise a family. Each of these five to six annual Ideas Forums features a 30-minute talk by a subject matter expert followed by responses from panels of informed policymakers, lawmakers and scholars. A crucial part of each Forum is interaction, dialogue and learning, both with and from the audience members. Working with partners across the public, private and nonprofit sectors, the Ideas Forum series explores topics with an eye toward real world solutions that can be implemented in our state. The series provides opportunities for all stakeholders concerned about building stronger communities to share wisdom and experiences and to add their perspectives to our policy discussions.

Impact

Since 1998, PSC's advocacy work has helped to leverage Connecticut’s investment of more than $1 billion in supportive and affordable housing resources. PSC leads the Reaching Home campaign to build the civic and political will to prevent and end homelessness in Connecticut, and the HOMEConnecticut campaign to expand affordable housing in all communities across the state. We also manage the historic Lyceum Resource and Conference Center as a gathering place to share knowledge, develop policy and explore practical solutions for developing strong communities.

To date, Reaching Home has helped to create approximately 6,000 units of supportive housing in Connecticut, and we are the first state in the nation to achieve the milestone of ending chronic veteran homelessness. We are swiftly closing in on our goals to end all veteran and chronic homelessness in CT by the end of 2016. Reaching Home works with partners to implement efforts such as the successful Hospital Initiative pilot that identifies and connects frequent users of emergency departments to Community Care Teams, and completion of the Opening Doors for Youth Action Plan to end youth homelessness.

The HOMEConnecticut campaign provides a wealth of resources to municipalities to help them understand their housing needs and proactively create new housing. The campaign advocated for the creation of the Incentive Housing Zone program in 2008, which provides assistance and incentives to municipalities that allow creation of higher-density mixed-income housing. More than half of Connecticut’s municipalities have taken part in the program and there are now 14 IHZs throughout the state and other towns have created similar zoning for mixed-income housing. By preserving a strong presence in the regions and towns, developing regional housing groups, convening stakeholders through IForums and holding such events such as Multifamily Speed Dating, PSC has emerged as the lead housing policy authority in CT.

Needs

As a backbone organization, the Partnership's work is critical to ensuring that our partners have the legislative advocacy and state funding resources needed to accomplish the goals of our collaborative efforts in ending homelessness and creating affordable housing. These advocacy efforts require extensive staff time to 1) convene partners to understand their specific needs and concerns, 2) conduct research to provide background information and create policy briefs on the issues and 3) advocate to state legislators to implement proposed policy changes and to allocate funding resources for our campaigns. Staffing is thus the Partnership's primary need. Our staff efforts create a substantial ripple effect in leveraging state funds and other resources to benefit our partners on the ground who are building the affordable housing and working directly with people experiencing homelessness and organizing with communities to create choice and opportunity for all. The largest percentage of our funding is received through foundation and corporate grants, but we also rely on individual donors to help ensure we have the staffing needed to ensure that everyone has access to a safe and stable home.

We are committed to preventing and ending homelessness and increasing housing options throughout the entire state of Connecticut. We are based out of Hartford in the Frog Hollow neighborhood, but our work takes us to every corner of the state to build stronger communities for everyone.

Reaching Home is PSC's overarching campaign to build the political and civic will to prevent and end homelessness in Connecticut. Reaching Home implements Opening Doors - CT, the nation's first statewide framework modeled after the federal government's Opening Doors plan to end homelessness. Now three years into the process, Reaching Home/Opening Doors-CT is focused on the following specific goals:

Prevent and end homelessness among veterans by the end of 2015.

Finish the job of ending chronic homelessness by the end of 2016.

Prevent and end homelessness among families, youth and children by the end of 2022.

Set a path to ending all homelessness in Connecticut.

We are on track for meeting our goals related to chronic and veteran homelessness, and are laying significant groundwork to create the path for families and youth.

The key strategies that provide the focus for the specific workgroups in the campaign include:

Strengthening the state's housing delivery system through the expansion of affordable and supportive housing.

Program Success Monitored ByHelpOrganizations describe the tools used to measure or track program impact.Because of the divergent individuals and organizations involved in Reaching Home, the program's success is monitored by many, some of whom might appear to have competing loyalties. Reaching Home will continue to emphasize housing as an essential platform for human and community development. We believe that stable housing is the foundation upon which people build their lives and essential to building the strong, vibrant communities needed to end homelessness in our state.

By preserving a strong presence in the regions and towns, developing regional housing groups, convening stakeholders through IForums and holding events such as Multifamily Speed Dating, HOMEConnecticut has emerged as the lead housing policy authority in the state. The Partnership will continue local outreach and technical assistance with towns and municipalities interested in planning for the creation of affordable housing. These efforts provide localities with the information and tools they need to build a base of support for affordable housing and foster discussions with town residents as to what land use, planning or financing tools will work best for them. HOMEConnecticut will continue to focus on the following areas:

*Build on our recent creation of Regional Housing Groups in the five key growth areas of the state to create a core group of leaders in each region that understand housing policy and markets.

*Continue to refine and expand on our host of tools for towns - Housing Data Profiles, videos, fact sheets -- that we need to continue to market.

*Continue to develop forums (like the MA model of HOMEConnecticut, and the successful "Speed Dating" event held last year in CT) that meet particular needs. We will also ensure that our IForums remain relevant.

*See to enhance incentives for HOMEConnecticut and low- and moderate-income housing creation, and perhaps add additional strength to the 8-30g statute to make it more effective (in collaboration with our partners and the Administration).

The HomeConnecticut campaign has continued to educate municipalities, their residents, developers and policymakers in such related disciplines as transportation, education and healthcare about the benefits of creating affordable and mixed-income higher-density housing near transit, in town centers and other areas of existing or planned infrastructure in municipalities around the state. The increasingly high demand for rental and other multifamily housing – sparked by both economic and demographic forces – is likely to see development in many more zones in the coming three years.

Incentive Housing Zones:Six more municipalities created Incentive Housing Zones around the state or high-density zoning similar to the minimum densities outlined in the statute, for a total of 14.

Pre-development Grants: Nineteen municipalities applied for and received grants from the Department of Housing to study potential locations, types and configurations of new mixed-income housing. Many were high-opportunity municipalities with resource-rich schools and abundant community services, including Madison, Guilford, Ridgefield, No. Stonington, Canton, Fairfield and Trumbull. Expected to apply/receive grants moving forward are Bethel, Marlborough, New Hartford, Orange and S. Windsor. Nearly 70 municipalities have now studied, planned for and/or outlined zones around the state.

Related Activities: The Partnership has produced several IForums to further this mission, along with a “Multifamily Speed Dating” event that brought together HomeConnecticut municipalities with lenders and developers. Another is anticipated this summer.

Long Term SuccessHelpOrganizations describe the ultimate change(s) that will result from this program. This may be far into the future and represent an ideal state.Ultimately, the goal of HOMEConnecticut is to infuse the state with communities of choice that host a variety of housing choices so that people can choose where they live, not just settle on where they live. Program success will mean that seniors who choose to can age in place, that young adults just starting out can remain in the towns in which they grew up -- if they so choose, and that municipal servants can live in the towns in which they serve. Data points to multiple benefits when towns include mixed-income housing, and that, ultimately, is our goal. This also furthers the third prong of our three-part mission, to help build vibrant communities.

Program Success Monitored ByHelpOrganizations describe the tools used to measure or track program impact.We consider our success to be self-evident -- that we are encouraging and facilitating municipalities in conversations about affordable housing, and some of these municipalities have never considered affordable housing -- homes that nurses and firefighters and police officers and teachers -- can afford. These are home that allow public servants to live in the towns in which they work.

The HOMEConnecticut program is helping to set the stage for thoughtful local planning of dynamic, mixed-income communities throughout the state. In addition, the program provides a way for towns to create mixed-use development that incorporates both housing and economic development. By allowing towns to plan for mixed-income housing and mixed-use development in smart growth locations, the program will foster communities throughout the state that are both economically and ecologically sustainable.

The Partnership organizes educational events that increase knowledge and broaden the base of those who care about housing. We use our Idea Forum Series to show how housing is intimately connected to a variety of public policy issues. These events have helped connect the dots, demonstrating that effective housing policy can contribute to solutions in policy areas as broad as healthcare, education, transportation, environmental quality, economics, urban policy and food insecurity. The Partnership is able to use these events to educate new constituencies and advocate for thoughtful, broad-based solutions to many vexing policy problems.

Additionally, our staff of policy analysts uses data aggregated from local, state and federal government sources, think-tank and policy organizations and business groups to create a variety of educational and advocacy materials, including reports and publications, fact sheets, e-newsletters and online news items. By distributing this information to members of Congress and the General Assembly, their staffs, mayors and first selectmen, planners and a range of other government, non-profit, private-sector partners and the general public, the Partnership continuously advocates for solutions to end homelessness and for the creation of affordable housing and vibrant communities.

Partnership staff solicits feedback from each IForum participant/attendee. We take the surveys seriously, and adjust each IForum accordingly.

Regarding publications, we update them on a consistent and regular basis, track the number of people who receive, open and view any email blasts containing the information, and track all website views. We want to create publications that are helpful and are being used by all those who are working to end homelessness and create affordable housing.

CEO/Executive Director

Ms. Alicia Woodsby

Term StartFeb 2014

Emailalicia@pschousing.org

Experience

Alicia Woodsby became the Partnership for Strong Communities' Interim Executive Director in February 2014. She joined the Partnership as the Deputy Executive Director in November of 2011.

As the former Public Policy Director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in CT, Alicia took a lead role on issues related to Medicaid and medication access, mental health parity, housing, decriminalization, and community mental health systems, among others. She conducted presentations on mental health policy at the state level and nationally.

Alicia worked closely with the NAMI-CT Board of Directors, its Public Policy Committee, and statewide membership to advocate for people with psychiatric disabilities and their families. She publicly represented the policy initiatives of NAMI-CT, and served as the primary liaison for public policy issues on state coalitions and with the national branch of NAMI. A strong focus of her work was to highlight the integral role of mental health in health care reform efforts and in shaping health care models and systems in the state.

Alicia co-chaired and managed the Keep the Promise Coalition and played a lead role in the development of the Keep the Promise children’s mental health initiative. She served on the NAMI National State Policy Advisory Group, the Reaching Home Campaign Steering Committee, and multiple Medicaid and healthcare coalitions. Alicia sits on the state’s Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council, and co-chairs the subcommittee for Adult Quality, Access and Policy issues. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the North Central Regional Mental Health Board.

Alicia holds a Masters of Social Work in Policy Practice with a focused area of study in Mental Health and Substance Abuse. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.

Wendy Kohn, Director of Marketing and Development, joined the Partnership for Strong Communities in Feb 2015. She is responsible for fundraising and creating donor communications materials for Partnership. Prior to starting at PSC, Wendy worked at Foodshare, one of CT’s regional food banks, as the Director of Development.

Wendy moved to CT in 2011 from Oregon. Wendy has had a varied career spanning several fields, starting as a practicing veterinarian in the early 90’s. Her love of education and communication (which are, not surprisingly, a big part of veterinary medicine) led her to start a small business called Kwamba Productions creating educational and advocacy media products for non-profits worldwide. After 17 successful years with Kwamba, Wendy became Executive Director of a small non-profit (PAW Team) providing veterinary care for the pets of people experiencing homelessness and extreme poverty in Portland, OR. She managed PAW Team for 4 years before moving to Connecticut.

Wendy graduated with a B.S. from Duke University in psychology and biology, and received her DVM from North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine. In a strange alignment of fate, she moved from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Connecticut where she lives with her spouse, 2 cats, and an English Mastiff (which counts for about 4 “normal” sized dogs).

Christi Staples joined the Partnership in September 2015 as a consultant to the Reaching Home Campaign. Christi is focused on refining the structure for Opening Doors-CT -- the statewide plan to end homelessness across the state -- and the role of the Partnership as the coordinating organization. Christi also supports and coordinates the Opening Doors-CT Health and Housing Stability work. Previous to her role with PSC, Christi was the Vice President of Health Equity for the Connecticut State Medical Society, focusing on the physicians’ role in eliminating racial and ethnic healthcare disparities. She also served as the interim executive director of the Health Assistance Intervention Education Network of Connecticut (HAVEN), an organization that provides confidential consultation and support to healthcare professionals facing health concerns related to alcoholism, substance abuse, behavioral or mental health issues and/or physical illness. Christi is a Connecticut Health Foundation Health Leadership Senior Fellow, focusing on increasing leadership knowledge and skills to better advocate and improve the health and well-being of those vulnerable to racial and ethnic health disparities. She was also selected for CT Magazine's 40 Under 40 in 2012.

She holds a masters degree in organizational leadership and is a candidate for a masters degree of social work in policy practice from the University of Connecticut. She has a bachelor of science in human development and child studies from Wheelock College.

Christi is a CT Health Foundation Health Equity Senior Fellow, focusing on the elimination of racial and ethnic healthcare disparities.

Katy Shafer was promoted to the role of Interim Policy Director for the Partnership. In this role, she manages the HOMEConnecticut campaign, which is charting solutions to Connecticut’s shortage of housing affordable to workers, young professionals, families and others. Katy coordinates education and advocacy efforts that relate housing to school achievement, transportation, energy, healthcare and other key disciplines.

Katy joined the Partnership in 2014 as a policy analyst. She has been responsible for researching, analyzing and offering housing policy recommendations to state, municipal and private agencies as well as working closely with the Partnership’s colleagues on issues ranging from supportive and affordable housing creation to community development strategies. She has produced IForums for the Partnership’s annual series and overseen research and community engagement for Regional Plan Association’s development of its 4th Regional Plan for the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region.

Katy, who was recognized by Hartford Business Journal in 2015 as one of its “40 Under Forty” accomplished and advancing young professionals, worked previously as the Development and Program Manager for the Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development. There, she guided all aspects of multifamily affordable, workforce and supportive housing development projects and programs located throughout rural, suburban and urban Connecticut, including those located in Incentive Housing Zones. Prior to that, Katy was Project Manager for the New York City-based affordable housing developer Common Ground, where she supported the expansion of the agency’s Connecticut operations.

Katy has a B.A. in History and Visual Studies with Distinction from Cornell University and a J.D. cum laude from Quinnipiac University School of Law with a Concentration in Intellectual Property Law. She lives in West Hartford with her husband and son, and is the Vice-Chairman of the West Hartford Housing Authority.

Formal Evaluations

CEO Formal EvaluationYes

CEO/Executive Formal Evaluation FrequencyAnnually

Senior Management Formal EvaluationYes

Senior Management Formal Evaluation FrequencyAnnually

Non Management Formal EvaluationYes

Non Management Formal Evaluation FrequencyAnnually

Collaborations

The Partnership for Strong Communities lives up to its name by working with a host of organizations across all systems and sectors. Our collaborators include, but are not limited to: Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness; Connecticut Housing Coalition; CCSU; New Haven Home Recovery; Columbus House; Connecticut Conference of Municipalities; the Connecticut Judicial Branch, Court Supported Services; CT Office of Policy and Management; Corporation for Supportive Housing; National Alliance on Mental Illness CT; CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence; CT Housing Finance Authority; Middlesex Chamber of Commerce; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Business Council of Fairfield County; Middlesex Chamber of Commerce; Hartford Hospital; AID CT; NeighborWorks New Horizon; Journey Home; Liberty Bank Foundation; United Way of CT; CWEALF; CT Business and Industry Association; The Connection; Yale University; Community Health Center Association of CT; CT Legal Rights Project; and Center for Children's Advocacy; New Haven Public Schools; New London Homeless Hospitality Center, and Connecticut Departments of Education, Children and Family, Social Services, Economic and Community Development, Housing, Labor, and Mental Health and Addiction Services. This is a partial list.

This profile, including the financial summaries prepared and submitted by the organization based on its own independent and/or internal audit processes and regulatory submissions, has been read by the Foundation. Financial information is inputted by Foundation staff directly from the organization’s IRS Form 990, audited financial statements or other financial documents approved by the nonprofit’s board. The Foundation has not audited the organization’s financial statements or tax filings, and makes no representations or warranties thereon. The Community Foundation is continuing to receive information submitted by the organization and may periodically update the organization’s profile to reflect the most current financial and other information available. The organization has completed the fields required by The Community Foundation and updated their profile in the last year. To see if the organization has received a competitive grant from The Community Foundation in the last five years, please go to the General Information Tab of the profile.

Related Information

A strong community not only meets its members’ basic needs but also works to create long-term solutions to their problems. Provide people with affordable housing, enough to eat and access to affordable health care and you enable them to envision a better future for themselves.

A strong economy begins with a community that supports its people. When you support workforce training, financial literacy and public transportation, you enable individuals and families to work where they live, increasing their chances of economic success.